Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
Winnipeg named world’s most intelligent community
This week, Winnipeg, Manitoba was named the world’s most intelligent community in 2021 by the Intelligent Community Forum. This is the first time since 2016 that a Canadian city received top honours. Winnipeg was selected as the 2021 Intelligent Community of the Year after more than a year of evaluation that included a quantitative analysis of extensive data, virtual site inspections by an Intelligent Community Forum co-founder and votes from an international jury made up of experts from around the world.
Two other Canadian cities were among the top seven finalists: Mississauga, Ontario, and Langley Township, British Columbia.
Armis Launches APEX Partner Program
Unified asset visibility and security platform provider Armis has launched the Armis Partner Experience Program (APEX) to help channel partners tap into the market opportunity of securing unmanaged IoT devices, which are estimated to make up between 80 and 90 per cent of the average business environment by 2025. It is designed to allow partners to thrive in their areas of expertise, and to expand their scope to help drive their go-to-market model. Its four-tier program, encompassing sell, service, build, and manage, makes it flexible for channel partners, resellers, systems integrators and MSSPs.
New Continuous Compromise Assessment offering for MSPs/MSSPs from Lumu
Cybersecurity firm Lumu, creator of the Continuous Compromise Assessment service, has launched its first channel program for managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs), Lumu for MSPs/MSSPs. The company describes the offering as one that “collects, normalizes, and analyzes a wide range of network metadata, allowing us to understand the behaviour of the network and leading to conclusive evidence of compromise.” It says the service lets providers operationalize the concept of ‘assume you’re compromised and prove otherwise’ across their entire customer base, all from a single view.
The company is hosting a free webinar for MSPs and MSSPs who are interested in learning more about the new program on November 2.
Microsoft acquires Two Hat
Microsoft has acquired content moderation solution provider Two Hat, which offers tools and resources to help keep users in online communities safe from abuse and harassment. Two Hat has been a Microsoft partner for several years, helping it to build safer global communities in Xbox, Minecraft and MSN.
Microsoft said in its announcement, “this acquisition is an important evolution of the longstanding relationship between Microsoft and Two Hat that will combine innovative technology, research capabilities, highly skilled teams and the most complete cloud infrastructure. This is a deep investment in assisting and serving Two Hat’s existing customers, prospective new customers and multiple product and service experiences here at Microsoft.”
Terms of the deal were not revealed.
Alphawave IP receives TSMC OIP Partner of the Year
Toronto’s Alphawave IP has been recognized by Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC as a recipient of the 2021 OIP Partner of the Year award for High-Speed SerDes IP. The Partner of the Year award honours TSMC Open Innovation Platform (OIP) ecosystem partners’ pursuit of excellence in next-generation design enablement over the past year. TMSC said in announcing the award, “Alphawave IP and other OIP ecosystem partners’ collaborative efforts effectively promote innovation in the semiconductor industry.”
Windows 11 already on almost 5 per cent of PCs
According to AdDuplex, a Lithuania-based cross-promotional network for Windows Store apps, just three weeks after launch, Windows 11 is already on 4.8 per cent of what it calls “modern” PCs globally. It collected the data from around 60,000 machines that were running some of the 5,000 apps that use its software development kit. It also found that more than 90 per cent of Windows 10/11 PCs are running 2020-2021 versions of the operating system.
